in the 24 hours i have been back from vacation, i learned that the barely functional vehicle in which i stored my remaining cali belongings was broken into. they liberated an old dell i’d been meaning to take to an e-recycling center, and who knows what else. i recognize this as a sign from god that detroit is for really real my home, and to relinquish physical belongings…anything that can be taken is a weakness.

and then i was overcome yesterday by a stomach concern – virus? food poisoning? i surrendered more quickly than usual to my body needing my full attention and asking for help.

i tell you all this because my two-full-week vacation was so stupendously wonderful that i am still feeling a deeper joy, deeper quiet, and deeper restfulness than i have – perhaps in years.

so, i fully endorse: vacations. i’m going to give you a list of places i went, to inspire you to vacate, and because i am so pleased with the whole idea and experience of it after years of not quite doing it right.

here’s a report on my tropical vacation to upstate michigan:

road tripped
skipped stones
hiked
found joy in both secret and public beaches
sat on beaches…a LOT
ate watermelon and manchego on the beach
played games
canoed
swam in lake michigan…many many times…felt the chill of spring give way to warmer summer water (it was as caribbean as everyone said it would be save for the temperature, which, depending on the whether outside ranged from “f&*%ing cold” to “refreshing”)
contemplated how to get people as comfortable with composting as they are with joyfully peeing inches from each other in large bodies of water that they then submerge themselves and their children in
shopped at local farmer’s markets with my chef Friend
ate delicious and perfectly prepared healthy foods
ate delicious and perfectly prepared unhealthy foods with equal gusto
ate fudge as my regional duty, while my Friend took care of the cherries
bowled until it hurt
flew a kite
went to movies

super highlight:
visited idlewild, got to speak with mabel williams, and got very inspired to return, and explore what an artistic renaissance retreat space for marginalized majorities looks like today, as well as to seriously reflect on what it means to be an american revolutionary at this time

additionally, i:
dreamt about the amc/us social forum experience almost every night – i suppose as my sole way of processing it
reminisced deeply about the people in my life whom i cherish, and found myself very blessed
found scenic outlooks and looked at how breathtaking water, air, earth and fire are together when the sun sets over a lake (consequently, chased sunsets)
finished 7 or 8 books, all of them science fiction
didn’t look at phone
didn’t look at computer
didn’t look at television

i read a bunch of orson scott card, who angers me because he writes such good imaginative sci fi but has such strange conservative politics. also read china mieville’s the city and the city – awesome. and the borribles series. started Dune by frank herbert, and think i will be in the dune world for a while.